IRVING — Brad Keselowski is one of the top drivers on the NASCAR circuit.

Keselowski won four races in 2011 and finished fifth in the Sprint Cup series in points. He has already won a pair of races this season.

But the one track Keselowski hasn’t been able to master is Texas Motor Speedway. In eight career starts he has never finished higher than 14th. Yet Keselowski continues to race at TMS every time.

That’s what I like about NASCAR — you get to see all the drivers every week. You can buy a ticket for races at Daytona in January, Kansas in April, Watkins Glen in August and TMS in November and know that the Tony Stewarts, Jeff Gordons and Jimmie Johnsons will be competing in all of them. The stars never stay away.

Not so in golf.

If you were hoping to see Masters winner Bubba Watson this weekend at the Byron Nelson, you’re out of luck. The same with fellow 2012 tournament winners Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Hunter Mahan. Not here. Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose and Luke Donald — you can scratch those top-10 money winners off your scorecard as well.

That’s why I’m a big fan of J.J. Killeen this week.

First off, he’s local. He’s a former TCU Horned Frog and a current Fort Worth resident. Second, he has shot-making ability. He was the 2011 player of the year for the Nationwide Tour. Finally, and most important, he’s here.

But then Killeen is always here, there and everywhere.

Killeen is the reigning iron man on the 2012 Tour. He may rank 117th in driving distance and 149th in scoring average — but Killeen is numero uno on the Tour in appearances. This is the 20th event of the PGA Tour season and the 18th time Killeen has been in the field.

The only two events he has missed were the Tournament of Champions and the Masters. He wasn’t eligible for the Tournament of Champions and didn’t qualify for the Masters. Otherwise, if the PGA Tour says he can come, count on Killeen being there.

Too bad his attitude isn’t contagious on the tour. Only two other golfers have entered as many as 17 of the events — Matt Bettencourt and Sung Kang. Fewer than 10 others have played 16 of the events. Killeen, in fact, has played in more tournaments than Watson and Woods combined.

But let’s get back to those who are here: Killeen was finally rewarded for his perseverance by making the cut at the Nelson — only the second time in his last nine tournaments he has earned a Saturday tee time. He sits nine strokes out of the lead.

Whatever the result this weekend, Killeen is already booked to play the Colonial next week and the Memorial the week after that. That’ll make it 20 of 22 tournaments.

“You never know when it’s going to be your week,” said Killeen’s wife, Tasha, from the Nelson gallery.

But it hasn’t been any week thus far for Killeen.

His rookie season has been a struggle. Killeen ranks 142nd in the FedEx Cup standings with 142 points. That leaves him 1,253 points back of the leader, Mahan. Killeen ranks 150th on the money list with $157,250. That leaves him $3.02 million back of the leader, Watson.

Killeen has made only seven cuts in his 18 events — this after surviving the cut 21 times in 25 Nationwide tournaments a year ago. His best finish on the PGA Tour was 14th back in March at the Puerto Rico Open.

Yet he plugs away, tournament after tournament, trying to make cuts and cash checks while many of his peers are carving down time into their schedules. Why the grind?

“Because I have the opportunity to do it,” Killeen said. “Since it’s my first year I don’t know any of the courses, so it’s good for me to learn them. You’re playing for $6 million a week out here, so I’m trying to get off to as good a start as I can.”

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About Rick Gosselin

MOST UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE ON THE JOB:
Sitting at the hotel bar with Jerry Jones that night in Orlando, Fla., in March 1994 when he decided he'd had enough of Jimmy Johnson as coach of the Cowboys.

SOMETHING PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME:I played hockey for a media all-star team in Detroit and once scored a goal against the Detroit Red Wings Old-Timers in a charity game at Olympia. As a high school player, I once scored a hat trick in a game at the Olympia. Love those "Original Six" buildings.

IF I HAD TWO SPARE HOURS, I WOULD:Take a golf lesson and learn how to hit a driver.

MOST MEMORABLE SPORTING EVENT I'VE COVERED:Impossible to pick just one, so I'll give you five, in no particular order:
- 1, My first Super Bowl - X between the Cowboys and Steelers.
- 2, 1983 NCAA basketball championship game between North Carolina State and Houston.
- 3, 1984 Orange Bowl between Miami and Nebraska.
- 4, 1971 baseball All-Star Game in Detroit, where all the future Hall of Famers homered and Reggie Jackson banged one off the light tower.
- 5, Speedskater Bonnie Blair's world-record sprints at 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
- Honorable mention: Troy Aikman's first college start as a freshman at Oklahoma against Kansas. (He lost.)

Hometown: Detroit

Education: Graduated from Michigan State in 1972, then spent two years working news for United Press International in Detroit, two years working for UPI sports in New York, nine years working as UPI's Midlands sports editor in Kansas City, four years as Chiefs/NFL beat reporter for the Kansas City Star, two years as Cowboys writer for The Dallas Morning News and 12 years as the NFL writer for The News.